"In the quantum realm, a single particle exists in many places at once—at least while no one is looking at it. The theory also allows for inexplicable connectedness: a pair of atoms, no matter how widely separated, can be entangled, such that whatever happens to one atom instantaneously affects the other. Albert Einstein called the phenomenon spooky action at a distance."
"These paradoxes have defined—or plagued—the theory since its inception more than a century ago. To this day, physicists still don't agree on what quantum mechanics is telling us about the nature of reality. Are there multiple universes? Do things come into existence only when they're observed? Is consciousness somehow central to the laws of physics?"
"Valentini argues that Louis de Broglie, a French physicist and Nobel laureate, developed a framework for quantum mechanics that eliminated its paradoxes around 100 years ago. In pilot wave theory, as de Broglie's brainchild is known, particles are guided by attendant waves."
Quantum mechanics is the most powerful yet perplexing theory in physics. While experiments confirm its predictions and it underlies modern technology, quantum mechanics describes a reality fundamentally at odds with everyday experience. Particles exist in multiple places simultaneously, and entangled particles separated by vast distances instantaneously affect each other—phenomena Einstein termed spooky action at a distance. These paradoxes have troubled physicists for over a century, generating ongoing debates about multiple universes, observation-dependent reality, and consciousness's role in physics. Physicist Antony Valentini argues that Louis de Broglie's pilot wave theory, developed around 100 years ago, provided a framework that eliminated these paradoxes by explaining how particles are guided by attendant waves.
Read at www.scientificamerican.com
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